On February 21, 2016 VIAA met in Nanaimo at the Nanaimo Track & Field Clubhouse. These are the highlights from the minutes of that meeting:

- Financial report by VIAA Treasurer Wendy Palou in the form of a written report. Discussion was held around the fact that fewer track meets and increased cost of rosettes is creating a shortfall in funding the rosettes. It was thought that staying within the budget of fees collected would a more prudent way to go rather than just purchasing the rosettes regardless of the costs.

- BC Athletics business: c. Officials:Rule changes – AliceKubek gave an overview of rule changes in the 2016 IAAF rulebook and provided a list of changes. Discussion was held around officials coaching athletes during events and the interpretation of that rule.d. VIAA Officials – Vince will encourage clubs to strive to have at least 1 or 2 certified Officials per club.e. Kim Longmuir read a report prepared by Randy Longmuir outlining some important actions from the 2015 BC Athletics board meeting.f. Vince Sequeira was congratulated for receiving the Ian McNeill award for Official of the Year, as was Tom Dingle for receiving the 2015 Jane Swan Award.g. It was noted with sadness that Richard Collier (Kajaks) and Kathy Terlicher’s (BC Athletics Officials) husband had passed away recently. It was also noted that Evelyn Parent (Jumps Official) is still recovering from her serious illness.

- Upcoming season: We will require a Zone 6 Head Coach for this year’s Summer Games. If there are any candidates wishing to volunteer for the position from the VIAA clubs, please let Tom Dingle know ASAP !!! This is critical to Zone 6 entering a team to participate in the Games. We need to have a designated head coach in place by the time the athletes’ names are submitted by June 12th.

- Discussion about supply of officials for the High School meets especially the Provincials was held between Allen and Alice. Allen informed the VIAA that the Provincials will be trying to hold all throws within the infield and outlined plans to make that happen safely. Allen also mentioned that they would like to run the oval track and the straight track simultaneously. The meet will be live streamed again as well as being broadcast on an onsite Jumbo-tron. Fencing will be set up to streamline the athlete control area. Officials for the meet will be housed in local hotels this year instead of at VIU. We will try to use as many “Island” Officials for the meet as possible.

- Allen Johnson gave a brief report regarding the BC Athletics Championship Jamboree to be held in Nanaimo July 15th – 17th. He mentioned there will be no multi-events at this meet. Masters athletes will be allowed to compete in individual events at the jamboree but will have to compete using senior weights for throwing, heights for hurdles etc. Allen also outlined some adjustments to the schedule compared to 2015.

-There was discussion regarding the photo finish equipment again. It was pointed out that the equipment is in good working order but the need to train new operators is essential. One issue is that it is a long day when working the equipment, the other issue is that the operator needs to be at least level 3 Official in order to be a chief photo finish judge and run the equipment on their own. Otherwise a trainee has to be “supervised”. If there are willing volunteers within your clubs, please submit their names to Vince.- Upcoming Clinicsa. Coaching clinics registration is now available on the BC Athletics website. Victoria is hosting a clinic April1st – 3rd for Sport Coach (Lv 1 NCCP) and Nanaimo is hosting a Club Coach (Lv 2 NCCP) clinic April 8th – 10th.b. There are also proposed clinics on the island in the fall; 1) Road Running Sept 9th – 11th, Sport Coach Sept 30th-Oct 2nd and Club Coach October 14th-16th in Victoria.c. There was discussion around officials clinics, especially around the promotion of Level 1 and 2 clinics, due to an increase in the number of high level meets on the island this season. Level 1 clinics are easily held either in conjunction with a meet or as a one of organized by individual clubs. The level 2 clinic is more involved and needs more time and co-ordination to hold. It was thought that level 1 clinics could be held at middle and high school meets too, so teachers can become trained to work at these meets.* UPDATE – The VIAA has scheduled a level 1 Officials’ Clinic for Thursday, March 31st at UVIC from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. , and a level 2 Officials’ Clinic on Friday – Saturday, May 5th – 6th in the evening, in conjunction with the Dogwood Meet. There are also plans to offer the same for the N. Island later in the Fall.

- VIAA equipment needs/acquisitions/election of office bearersVince Sequeira put his name forward for Chairman for the next 2 years, and was so acclaimed. Laurie Willett as secretary pointed out that he is willing to complete those duties at the September meeting but will then step down. Clubs are encouraged to bring names to put forward for this position at the September meeting.- Status of new clubs

Victoria Speed Project is a name change from UVic Track and Field Club and will continue to operate as in the past with Dacre Bowen as Head Coach.

- Other Businessa. Vince Sequeira read an email from John May,followed by a discussion regarding the points brought up by John. One point was the viability VIAA and whether there is a need for it at this time. Alice Kubek spoke positively for the VIAA and pointed out its reputation on the mainland and in the interior. Graham Morfitt spoke regarding the high costs of the rosettes and it was agreed to look at reducing the cost of the rosettes and have that cost fit within the budget provided by charging each host club $1 per athlete to pay for the rosette. There was a discussion around the need for the rosettes and it was generally thought that they were a good recognition program to continue,especially for the J.D. athletes. There was agreement among all present that the VIAA should continue to exist and the benefits to all member clubs was discussed.

b. John brought up the wording around “mandatory membership fee” to be in the VIAA. After some discussion the following motion was tabled:Motion:To return to the wording of “voluntary donation to the VIAA” membership fund, rather than “mandatory membership fee”. This motion was moved by Tom Dingle and seconded by Valerie Allemekinders. The motion was carried.c. Todd Blumel(CVACS) spoke in support of the VIAA being a relevant body for the island track clubs. He also spoke positively for the rosette ribbons being continued. After some discussion, the following motion was tabled:Motion: to look into purchasing rosette ribbons to stay within the budget of fees collected – Moved: Florence Dingle, Seconded: Dave Hopkins, carried.d. Discussion was held around the transition from sticker meets to trackie registration meets. It was felt that the island clubs are somewhat underprepared for this transition this season. A motion was tabled around this.Motion:Due to 2016 being a transition year, individual clubs have the choice to run their meet registration process as they see fit. Moved: Florence Dingle. Seconded: Dave Hopkins. Carried.